Improvement in defecating cane-juice



@with gratas ideate-at @fitr-r'.

A.. B'.` SHARP, OF PAINCOUR'IVILLE, LOUISIANA..

Letters Patent No. 73,054, dated January 7, 1868.

IMrnovnirrznr In DErseATINe GANE-Juice.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that I, A. B. SHARP, of Puincourtville, in the parish of Assumption, and State of Louisiana, have inveptedla certain newv and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Defecating Gane-Juice, by which I am enabled to purify'the fumesof sulphur, before said fumes enter the canc-jhice, morethoroughly than has ever heretofore been done; and I do hereby declare the following-to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, Amaking a part ofithis specification i v It is well vknown to all who are conversant-with the subject, that whilst, in-the defeeation or clariiieation of cane-juice, no. agent is so eeetive and economicin its applicationA as the fumes o-i sulphur,lthe process does not still produce results that are entirely satisfactory or complete, in consequence of the presence of impuri ties inthe said fumes, that are absorbed by or taken up by the juice, as the-fumes pass'through it, to the permanent injury of the said juice, orpi' the sugar into which it is subsequentlytransformed, whilst the sulphurous gas, by reason of its more volatile nature, passes off without leaving al tra-ce of its poisonous properties behind. It is also well known that if the fumes 'of sulphur be brought into contact with lwater, it is purified in precise proportion to the extent of such contact and that hence, in all the more modern apparatus for clarify.

ing cane-juice, a cistern to contain` water has been introduced, through which the fumes are madevto pass,-

before reaching the juice,-with the view to their purification. But inall existing arrangements the effects are very incomplete, because the contaetfbetween the fumes and the water is only partial, being limited, in fact, to those portions of the former that touch upon the surface of `the latter, which rests quiescent in the lower part ot' the cistern, whilst the fumes pass through the upper part thereof on their way to the eane-juice.

My invention provides a means of so agitatihng the waterI that all parts of 'the passing fumes are brought into contact therewith; and hence it securesv the perfect cleansing of the same, and as a necessary corollary thereof, a subsequent perfect d epuration of the cane'juiee. In a word, my invention consists of a supplemental or additional ehamber, ann`excd to the juice-receiver, to containand agitato the Water through which the fumes of the sulphur pass on their way into said receiver to purify said fumes. But my invention will be better understood byreferring to the drawings, inwhic'hv A represents a cane-juice receiver, or mixing-cylinder, -or Whatever else it may be called, as it appears enternally, and B, my improvement, inthe form of a somewhat larger cylinder, with a part of it broken away in order to show the partition or diaphragm @which separates it from the `iuice-cylinder. v:B 'ought tobe about'A one-third the length of A, and although prefer it should' have agreater diameter, than A, it may manifestlybe of the same size, if it be'deemed desirable to have it so. At the end, D, my improvement may be closed in the same manner as Patterson closes his cylinder, or in any other convenient and suitable manner. It is sepl arated in this form from nthe receiver A by the diaphragm C, which, it will be perceived, has a circular opening, `a,'in its centre. This opening a is made large enough to allowof the passage through it o-theshaft, on which the two cylinders revolve and are sustained, as well as of a conduit-pipe for the cancjuice, which pipe can ,bev placed more conveniently on the outside of the cylinder, so as to enter the same near the diaphragm C. Neither the pipe for,v the eene-juice, nor thejshaft above spoken of, is shown on the drawings, nor any means for agitating the water within the cylinder B, for none of these things constitute anypa-rt of' myzinvention. It will be readily' understood, without the aid of illustration on the drawings, that the shaft is supported at both its ends, outside the, cylinders, by journals, and that if it require intermediate support between its ends, such support may easily beintrodueed at any point by means of a central collar encircling said shaft, thatls lccpt'in place andsustaind by arms projecting from said collar, and securely attached to the inner surf-acne of the cylinder within-which the support needs to be given. It will also be understood that. the conduit for the eanejuice must be a pipe that, passing through water-cylinder B, terminates just'past diaphragm C, so as to precipitate said juice very near the same, in order thus to Ainsure the longest possible retention of it within `cylinder A, and the consequent'greatest possible action upon it by the purified fumes before it escapes, clarified thereby, at the end E`oi` said cylinder, through a proper opening made for the purpose,lto he further treated and converted -into sugar,

The means I employ for producing a suiiieientagitation or disturbance of the water to insure a proximate v contact of every portion ofthe fumes of sulphur, may be similarto those employed by .Pattersomiin his cylinder A; that is to say, the means may consist. of a sferiesof thin iiunches or ledges, which, attached to thezinnex surface of cylinder B, and longitudinally therefrom, project inwardly for several inches towards the centre of the cylinder. LThese anches, in the revolution of the cylinders, will alternately lift a-peition of the water' and pour it back againyand thus they will keep up a continual agitation thereof, which will be nore or less extended accordingly as the ilafnches' are placed near each other or further apart. If it be found expedient to make the cylinders A B stationary, and instead'of the ilanches or shafts, I havejust described, to employ revolving beaters for breaking and stirring the water, itv'can easily be done; but in such ease it is obvious that the pipe for conveying the cane-juice could not pass through the centre of the cylinder B, as in 'the first case, for it would prevent the revolution of thesaid beaters. It would not be difficult, indeed, to use vbeth the projecting ledges *and revolving beaters, sinceall that would be required in such casevwould be to leave a suicient space between the ends ofthe beaters andthe ends of the ledges to permit the juiee-pipe to beconducted through the same, which might readily be done by bending it, or by letting the lpipeenter from the outside. The Water contained in cylinder B must never be allowed to flow in't'o A', and to prevent this,v atcrvalves, for preserving the water at a given point below opening a, in diaphragml C, must be provided in the cover or head of the cylinder at D, which will permit4 the water to escape whenever it attains the prescribed height. The fumes ofV sulphur are thrown into cylinder B, at .the end D, by any usual or proper means, and no particular plan or appliancel for doing this need herein be given. i

The operation of my invention is as follows, to wit: 'The cylinders being set in motion, and the fumes of sulphur, the supply of water, which, as in the caseof the fumes, may beintroduced by any proper means, and the cane-juice-being turned within the cylinders, the revolution of the latter agitates. the water in cylinder B by means ofthe projecting ,ilanches as before described, and insomuch as the fumes of sulphur pass through said cylinder, andis thus brought into contact-with thew-ter, it is at once freed of all extraneous acid or other matter, and so purified before it enters into cylinder A,.or can act upon the cane-juice therein contained'.

My linvention is of great importance andvalue, as' has been demonstrated by experiment, not only in respect of the beneficial effects produced by it in the manufacture and refining ofv sugar, but also because it is simple, and can be made 'at less cost 'than any other contrivance looking to the accomplishment of vthe same end that isjnow in existeuce.-

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim, andldesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The supplemental or additional revolving cylindricalwaterfcistern B, when constructed and operating in connecting with Pa-ttersons cylinder A, or any other cylinderI substantially the same, and specially employed for purifying'the fumes of sulphur to be subsequently used in the defecation of canejuice, as set forth.

' A. B. SHARP.

Witnesses:

EMILE Rosin, Raros R. Rnoous. 

